Hiltaba nature reserve

Where Desert and Mallee meet

Area

78,000 ha (780 sq km)

Location

Bordering the Gawler Ranges on the Eyre Peninsula

Consisting

Protection of fauna and flora

Acquired

2012

Management

Nature Foundation SA

Magnificent granite hills overlooking plains of diverse grass and woodlands are the landscapes that make up Hiltaba Nature Reserve. Adjoining the Gawler Ranges, the unique geological formations of this 78,000 hectare property are home to species such as the Yellow‐footed Rock Wallaby, the Slender‐billed Thornbill and Desert Green-hood Orchid.

With the addition of Hiltaba to the National Reserve System, almost 750 km of land is now connected from the WA‐SA border to the Eyre Peninsula, making Hiltaba a crucial link in the East Meets West NatureLinks Corridor.

Hiltaba carries a diverse range of habitats, from acacia shrublands and casuarina woodlands to mallee forest and tussock grasslands, making it ideal country for more than 40 state‐listed species and nine species listed by the Commonwealth for their conservation significance.

For bird watchers, Hiltaba is a reserve worth visiting. Carrying everything from the endemic Gawler Ranges Short-tailed Grasswren to the 1.5 metre tall Australian Bustard, even those without a pair of binoculars will appreciate Hiltaba's birdlife.

What we do on this property

Through active management we are reducing the impact of a number of threatening processes, primarily focusing on total grazing pressure and predation. Total grazing pressure is a combination of the impact caused by herbivores, both introduced and native as well as feral and domestic, on native vegetation. Nature Foundation SA has removed all domestic stock and the majority of goats. Conservation activities include tackling the degradation caused by rabbits and monitoring the numbers of macropods.

The predation side of the equation has involved reducing the numbers of introduced foxes and cats to alleviate the pressure on native fauna, allowing them to reproduce and build in numbers as habitat also improves.

During 2012 Nature Foundation SA set up biological surveys of Hiltaba that established the health of the native flora and fauna on the property and looked at the feral pests endangering them. This helped us to track their progress under Nature Foundation SA management.

Nature Foundation SA funds research projects into the flora and fauna of this landscape, to better understand how we can Save, Protect and Restore this diverse and unique habitat.